Washington — The foundation that gives the prize has honored John Agyekum Kufuor, president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leader of Brazil between 2003 and 2009, for putting into place policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries.
“President Kufuor and President Lula da Silva have set a powerful example for other political leaders in the world,” said Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, which gives the award. Quinn spoke at a June 21 ceremony at the State Department.
“Both Ghana and Brazil are on track to exceed the U.N. Millennium Development Goal – to cut in half extreme hunger before 2015,” Quinn said.
In 2000, 189 nations pledged at a United Nations summit to “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty.” They committed to act in concert to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015, including promoting gender equality, combating AIDS, ensuring environmental stability and eradicating poverty.
Kufuor and Lula will accept the World Food Prize at the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 13. The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in agricultural research, for whom the Iowa symposium is named.
“President Kufuor and President Lula da Silva have set the gold standard for presidential leadership in tackling the global challenges of poverty and hunger,” said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged African heads of state at a recent meeting of the African Union to follow Kufuor’s lead and make a priority of agriculture, and allow partners like the United States and multilateral institutions to work with them to fight hunger and poverty.
The two leaders “have advanced food security for their people by pursuing innovative policies and programs,” added U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
“Today, we need another Green Revolution … that includes to a greater degree Africa and extends all the way from farmer to market,” said Robert Hormats, undersecretary of state for economic, energy and agricultural affairs.
BOOSTING FARM YIELDS IN GHANA
Born in Kumasi, Ghana, in 1938, Kufuor began his education at one of the few schools in Ghana at the time. He went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oxford University and a law degree at Lincoln’s Inn in London.
As president, Kufuor made a priority of national agricultural policies. During his term, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to cut in half the proportion of people suffering from hunger and the proportion living on less than $1 a day. The country used its entire $547 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, awarded in 2006, to teach farmers improved growing practices and increase their incomes. (The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a U.S. aid agency that grants money to countries that focus on good policies, country ownership of development plans and results.)
As a result, Ghana’s cocoa production doubled between 2002 and 2005 and production of livestock, maize, cassava, yams and plantains increased significantly. By 2008, the country’s national economy had quadrupled. Kufuor also launched a program to give schoolchildren ages 4 to 14 at least one meal a day. By the end of 2010, more than 1 million schoolchildren had benefited from the program.
PUTTING THREE MEALS ON THE TABLE
Lula was born in 1945 into a working-class family in Garanhuns, Brazil. He began working at age 12 as a factory mechanic and metalworker. That led him to a leadership position in Brazil’s labor movement beginning in 1969, which in turn propelled him into national politics.
When he became president, Lula said his mission was to make it possible for all people in his country to eat three meals a day. His Zero Hunger initiative brought together government, civil society and the private sector to focus on giving people greater access to food, boosting rural family incomes, increasing primary school enrollment and empowering the poor. The initiative quickly became one of the most successful food and nutritional security policies in the world, according to the World Food Prize Foundation.
Under Zero Hunger, the Bolsa Família (Family Allowance) Program has benefited more than 12 million families by guaranteeing them a minimum income. The initiative’s Food Purchase Program makes locally produced food available at schools, community restaurants and facilities aiding the oldest and youngest members of the population. The School Feeding Program provides meals to Brazil’s schoolchildren. Today, 93 percent of children eat three meals a day. And the More Food Program mitigates the impact of rising food prices and boosts family farm production.
Established in 1986, the World Food Prize recognizes individuals who have made breakthrough achievements to improve the quality, quantity and availability of food throughout the world. It has been awarded to 30 people from all over the world working in areas such as plant breeding, soil science, early childhood nutrition, livestock health, famine relief and establishing government policies favorable to agricultural development.
Latest estimates show the world’s population growing to 9 billion by 2050, and currently one in eight people are hungry, according to the World Food Prize Foundation.
Kathryn Mcconnell, allafrica
